The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (11 page)

Anxiously
,
Rosalinda looked down at her uniform
.
“But look at me. I’m a mess. I absolutely must freshen
up before the party.”

Gabrielle quickly walked over to Rosalinda, pulling her towards the door
.
“Give me a break
,
Rosalinda; we’re only going to a tea party.” She looked over at
Zora
and Jessica
.
“Come on
,
girls
,
before we’re late.”

They quickly walked out of the room and through the throng of excited girls rushing through the hallway and down the stairs. Gabrielle, Jessica,
Zora
,
and Rosalinda were happily giggling and talking as they approached the large crowded dining room with “Tea Rose Dining Hall” elaborately etched above the door.

A young dark-eyed woman with glossy black hair pulled into a bun smiled and greeted them warmly at
the
door
.
“Hello
,
ladies. How are you?” she asked kindly.

They looked at her curiously as she pulled a stack of nametags out of the box she was holding. She wasn’t tragic
-
looking for a
p
rofessor; in fact, she was damn near perfect, like she could have been on “America’s Top Model
.
”

“Okay, so let me guess,” she smiled as she handed over their nametags in order.
“Jessica Owens
.
Rosalinda Hernandez Diaz
.
Zora
Patterson
.
And Gabrielle Martin
.
”
Her eyes twinkled happily
.
“And from the puzzled looks
on
your faces, I guess you’re wondering what my name
is
,” she said. “My name is Ms. Duncan and I’m a
p
rofessor here at
Vineswell
Academy.”

“Hello
,
Ms. Duncan,” they responded in unison.

Inside the room, Ms.
Vineswell
sat stiffly at a long formal table that was propped on top of a raised platform that towered over the students. Her thin face pinched with disdain as she looked around at the students of all ages milling around loudly. She glanced off-hand
ed
ly at the group of
p
rofessors already seated at the table.
T
here was something about some of the
p
rofessors gathered that looked horribly out of place, but for the life of her
,
Gabrielle couldn’t figure it out.

Tapping abruptly on the table, Ms.
Vineswell
cleared her throat loudly
.
“Young ladies, settle down and have a seat,” she commanded.

Ms. Duncan’s warm smile quickly disappeared as she looked over disapprovingly at Ms.
Vineswell
.
“Well, it was nice meeting all of you.” She walked into the dining room toward the faculty table and reluctantly sat down in the only empty chair
, which
happened
to
be by Ms.
Vineswell
.

Gabrielle,
Zora
, Rosalinda
,
and Jessica entered the crowded room and looked around at the circular tables set with crisp white tablecloths, linen napkins, sparkling silverware
,
and colorful flower arrangements.
 

Gabrielle smiled widely when she spotted an empty table tucked in the front of the room
.
“Come on
.
L
et’s get that table before some else grabs it.” They quickly pushed through the crowd of girls jostling for a table.

Jessica nervously adjusted her cardigan as they passed a table filled with girls. The
y all sn
ickered loudly.
A
mong them was A
shley
, who
coughed, covering her mouth with her
hand
.
“Losers!” she said in a loud whisper.

Gabrielle screeched to a stop and looked over at Ashley
.
“You couldn’t be talking about us because the only
‘l
osers
’
I see around here are you and your friends.”

Ashley’s face turned bright red as she sputtered angrily, “How dare you call us losers?”

Gabrielle angrily placed her hands on her hips
.
“Well, didn’t you just call us losers?”

“You don’t want to mess with me
,
Gabrielle. I can make or break you quite easily,” Ashley s
aid.

Gabrielle shook her head
.
“The only thing I have to say to that is
get a life
,
Ashley. Come on
,
girls.” She walked away from Ashley with
Zora
, Rosalinda, and Jessica following closely behind her.

When they sat down,
Zora
asked,
“Gosh, what was that all about?”

Jessica looked over at Gabrielle
.
“I can’t believe you just said that to Ashley. I don’t think anyone in this school is brave enough to go against
her.
Boy
,
did you see the look on her face? She was real angry
.
”

Gabrielle casually picked
up a gingerbread cookie from the cake stand and bit into it hungrily
;
the crumbs trickled down her chin.
“Give me a break
,
Jess. I’m not scared of Ashley and you shouldn’t be
,
either.”

Rosalinda gave
Zora
a puzzled look
.
“I don’t understand. Why was she so rude? My father said that the girls from
Vineswell
Academy are so nice and well-mannered.”

Zora
nonchalantly shoved a cookie into her mouth
.
“Welcome to reality at
Vineswell
Academy.”

They all giggled hysterically.

* * *

Moments later, waiters scurried from table
to
table pouring steaming hot tea into dainty floral teacups as the loud voices of excited girls filled the room.

Jessica, Rosalinda
,
and
Zora
giggled loudly when Gabrielle picked
up her teacup and playfully slurped from it with her pinky finger sticking out snootily.
 

Ashley gave them an annoyed stare as she leaned over and whispered into Rebecca’s ear.

Ms.
Vineswell
stiffly stood
up and cleared her throat as she looked around the room.
“Welcome to
Vineswell
Academy,” she said in a high
,
nasal voice. “You are in a very privileged position
,
as most of you are well aware. All of you have been hand
-
selected to attend this illustrious institution and today starts the beginning of your wonderful journey at
Vineswell
Academy.”

She straightened her stiff black jacket and smiled coldly
.
“Years ago, I
,
too
,
sat in this very same room as a proud student of
Vineswell
Academy. My
g
reat
-g
randmother, Martha
Vineswell
, the school’s founder, strongly believed that a highly
structured environment breeds a highly
structured and disciplined young lady.”

Jessica, Rosalinda,
Zora
,
and Gabrielle snickered softly.

Ms.
Vineswell
shot them a disapproving glare
.
“Young ladies!
Stop all that gabbing immediately.”

They looked over at her nervously.

Ashley smirked as she
glanced o
ver at them spitefully. She primly straightened her cardigan and stiffly stood
up.
“Pardon me
,
Ms.
Vineswell
…
”
H
er cold blue
eyes narrowed as she looked over at Gabrielle, Jessica, Rosalinda
,
and
Zora
.
“But I think that I speak for all of my classmates when I say that it’s very ill-mannered of Gabrielle and her friends to spoil this wonderful tea party with their impolite behavior.”

Ashley quickly jabbed Rebecca with her elbow.

Rebecca took the cue, quickly st
anding
up and look
ing
over at them spitefully
.
“I fully agree with Ashley. In fact, I would respectfully go s
o
far as to say that if Gabrielle and her friends do not respect the time
-
honored traditions of
Vineswell
Academy—as
they obviously don’t by their rude gabbing during your wonderful speech
—
” she smiled sweetly, “
t
hen they should excuse themselves from the tea party and go gab somewhere else.”

Gabrielle snorted loudly with disgust.

Ms. Duncan gave Ms.
Vineswell
a hard stare.

Ms.
Vineswell
smiled spitefully at Gabrielle as she stiffly sat down
.
“Please go on
,
Ashley.”